According to the GTS Operator of Ukraine, gas transit amounted to 30 bcm for 7 months of 2020.
Over this time, the GTS Operator of Ukraine transited 29.8 bcm of gas under the new transit agreement*. This is 44% less than in the same period last year (53.2 bcm).
Since the beginning of the year, Gazprom has fully paid off for the entire volume of reserved capacity, of which only 79% is used. In return, the GTS Operator of Ukraine fulfills all daily requests and will continue to ensure uninterrupted gas transportation to European countries.
27.7 bcm of gas were transited in western direction (-39%): in particular, to Poland - 2.2 bcm, to Slovakia - 20.4 bcm, to Hungary - 5.1 bcm.
It should be noted that in July 2020, during the annual two-week stoppage of scheduled repairs of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to the EU through the Baltic Sea, Gazprom did not increase transit through the Ukrainian GTS, as in previous years this period.
In the trans-Balkan direction, transit amounted to 2.1 bcm (-73%): of them, 0.4 bcm - to Romania and 1.7 bcm - to Moldova.
Let us note that the decline in transit through the southern route of the GTS of Ukraine is due to the launch in January 2020 of the Turkish Stream, which transports gas from Russia to Turkey, and from there to the Balkans.
For 7 months of 2020, the GTS Operator of Ukraine transported 9.2 bcm of gas from Europe to Ukraine at the request of its customers. This is 21% (1.6 bcm) more than in the same period last year. This is also 48% higher than the average in 2016-2019.
In just 7 months of 2020, imports from Slovakia amounted to 5.4 bcm (+ 16%) compared to the same period last year, from Hungary - 2.7 bcm (+ 26%), from Poland - 1.1 bcm (+ 33%).
In particular, 28% or 2.6 bcm: from Slovakia - 0.2 bcm, from Hungary - 1.7 bcm, from Poland - 0.7 bcm were imported through the backhaul, which first became available earlier this year.
According to operative data of the GTS Operator of Ukraine, 2.1 bcm of natural gas were imported to Ukraine in July 2020, which is 9% (or 183 mmcm) more than the import volumes of July 2019. At the same time, it is 18% (or 320 mmcm) more than in June 2020.
Moreover, since the beginning of August, the daily volume of gas transportation from European countries to Ukraine increased sharply by another 55% and reached a new historical record in this direction - 107 mmcm.
Such an increase in imports is due to a significant increase in demand from European companies for gas storage in Ukrainian gas storage facilities in the "customs warehouse" mode. Due to the fullness of European storage facilities and attractive tariffs and services, this year Ukraine is breaking records for gas injection into underground storage facilities and is taking an important step towards becoming a European gas hub.
Since the beginning of the year, 5.4 bcm of imported volumes were sent to underground storage facilities to be stored in the "customs warehouse" mode. Of them, 54% (or 2.9 bcm) came in shorthaul mode.
In total, 69 traders ordered gas from the EU to Ukraine in January-July, including 44 Ukrainian companies and 25 foreign companies. 52 customers used shorthaul and "customs warehouse" services: 24 residents and 28 non-residents.